Hospitality Design - August 2020 - 18

perspectives business sense

"We ensure that people,
demographics, and
communities who don't
have access to welldesigned spaces will."

A rendering of 1 River Park, a residential
building in Brooklyn by FXCollaborative

town in horse country-was "struggling to keep
occupancy on Main Street. There was a failing
water system, and it needed to be stabilized from
a financial standpoint. Sheila felt strongly that
the resort would be able to do that," which it did
without sacrificing Middleburg's charm.
Johnson is a visionary, and she illuminates
potential career paths by making herself
accessible to young Black students and aspiring
hospitality professionals so they can achieve
similar levels of success. "When Sheila speaks to
these groups, she challenges them to dream big
and become an owner like her," adds Devadas.
To encourage people of color to pursue work
in hospitality, and the design industry specifically,
students need to see "people who look like
them in positions of creativity and prosperity,"
says Angie Lee, partner and design director of
interiors at New York- and Washington, DCbased FXCollaborative and president-elect of the
International Interior Design Association (IIDA).
"Representing a successful vision of a design
career ideally happens in school, and the earlier
the better," she says.
Many organizations, including the National
Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA)
and IIDA, are leading the effort to host programs
that encourage young people of color to pursue
careers in design and architecture. "The first
place we come in contact with design is our

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August 2020 hospitalitydesign.com

Pastels reign at Omar's Place
restaurant in London, the handiwork
of Holloway Li and Sella Concept

home," says Cheryl Durst, executive vice
president and CEO of IIDA. "Doing simple
design exercises with children about how you
can have power over your surroundings is
incredibly validating. By encouraging curiosity
and creativity at a young age, we can inspire the
next generation of makers, designers, artists, and
engineers." Committed to the advancement of
racial and ethnic diversity in the design industry,
IIDA currently distributes multiple scholarships
funded by firms and manufacturers that are

Determined by Design's Cherry
Blossom Intimates in Washington,
DC bursts with bright colors

available to educators and students. Expanding
on the association's reach, IIDA also plans to
launch a pipeline program aimed at educating
elementary students about the world of design.
Lee warns, however, that the Eurocentric
design curriculum that awaits children, one
"that tends to dismiss ethnic design influences
as distraction, decorative, or primitive" and
celebrates an abundance of white male
heroes, is another roadblock that needs to be
confronted. "When we allow people of color

Photos and renderings by WILLIAMS NEW YORK, NICHOLAS WORLEY and courtesy of DETERMINED BY DESIGN

- Kia Weatherspoon, Determined by Design
http://www.hospitalitydesign.com
Hospitality Design - August 2020

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